Trials of Loyalty
by Fibre Optic
Summary: In penance for his treatment and cruelty toward Midgardians, Loki is forced to remain in the form of one of Midgard's most loyal and noble creatures. Having to live with the Avengers was just a bonus.
1. Chapter 1

_Set after the Avengers movie. What if Loki's punishment was to become the very definition of Midgardian loyalty and friendship as penance for his crimes against the planet? If you enjoy this story, I would love that you reviewed or messaged to let me know. It can at this point go anywhere, though I have a very clear idea where I will take it. Enjoy. _

Thor walked into the room with a dog on a leash being dragged along behind him. He appeared not to notice the animal's resistance, despite the fact that it was very clearly digging its heels in and making every effort to wriggle its head out of the studded leather collar around its neck.

"Nice dog," Tony commented, eyes only briefly leaving the television when Thor and his new pet came through the living room. "If it craps on my floor, it's leaving."

"He would not defecate indoors!" Thor said haughtily. "He may be out of his standard form, but my brother retains his dignity."

Before Tony could fully register that, Thor was in the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. Clint, Pepper, and Darcy all sat around the table, engaging in idle conversation while texting, e-mailing, and bow-cleaning, respectively. It was Darcy who let out the first high-pitched squeal, alerting the other two to the canine by Thor's legs.

"O-M-G, you got a dog?" She said excitedly, sliding from her chair to kneel in front of the dog. "Hello doggy!" She cooed, reaching out to ruffle its ears. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"

"Actually -"

"Cool," Clint said, glancing up from his bow. "What breed is it?"

"He's not -"

"Are you keeping him?" Pepper asked, turning sideways on her chair to get a better look. "Because dogs require a lot of time and work."

"He is my brother," Thor said finally. "His shapeshifting has been anchored. He must remain in the form of one of Midgard's most revered creatures until he learns the error in his previous treatment of Midgardians."

The tension in the room following his words was broken by Darcy, who only then realized that the dog's eyes were indeed a startling shade of green. She scrambled backwards, eyes wide on the animal, which appeared to fix her with a death glare.

"Are you saying that dog is Loki?" Clint asked incredulously.

The dog let out a low growl in Clint's direction, and Thor looked down and hummed in agreement. "That is correct, Barton. Though he does not enjoy being referred to as a dog, and requests that henceforth you call him by his proper title."

"Yeah? Well 'Power Hungry Little Bastard' would be a bit of a mouthful every time we're referring to him."

Thor wobbled forward when the dog suddenly lunged toward Clint, ears flat against its head and lips drawn back to reveal rows of perfect white teeth. The collar tightened at its throat as Thor tugged him back, and Clint raised his eyebrows. "I vote we call him Fluffy."

"No way," Tony said later that evening. The entire team sat around one of the many large TV rooms in Stark tower, debating on the matter with Thor. The God of Thunder was insistent that Loki stay with them – he was, after all, harmless in this form. Clint had swiftly undermined that argument by pointing out the leash in Thor's hands.

"Stark, my brother is not here to cause harm. He is here to repent, to learn the error of his ways," Thor insisted. "He can cause you no harm in this form."

"Oh really?" Tony said sceptically. "Because he's no chihuahua, and those teeth don't look like marshmallows either."

Loki, who had been sitting by Thor's armchair watching the proceedings, gave a very obvious yawn at that. His tongue curled, teeth flashing in the light of the fire at the front of the room, and he glanced at Thor as his mouth pointedly snapped shut.

"See?" Tony said, pointing accusingly at Loki. "Daggers of evil reside within that harmless looking doggy mouth, and he'll use them."

"Sorry, but I'm with Tony," Steve said. "He's dangerous, Thor. I know he's your brother, and he's important to you. But we can't have him here."

"Where do you suggest he go, then?" Thor sounded defeated, and it was so foreign an emotion for him that even Natasha's surprise showed. "Loki cannot change his shape until he has changed his heart and beliefs, and the All Father has made it so."

"There's a holding facility at Shield," Natasha began, glancing knowingly at Clint. "They could keep him under control easily from there."

Thor shook his head. "He will not learn within a cage."

"What if we chained him in the yard?" Bruce suggested. Five pairs of eyes turned to him, and he looked away nervously. "Just as a compromise. It might work."

"See, we're still missing the most important part," Stark argued. "I do not want that creepy little hell god anywhere near my place."

"It's not just _your_ place anymore," Natasha pointed out. "We're a team now. Thor needs help, we should give it to him."

Stark threw his hands up. "I don't believe this. Am I the only one who remembers what that little asshole actually did?"

"Stark!" Thor said angrily. Loki watched, eyes narrowed, as the room exploded with arguments from all sides.

"Alright," Rogers said loudly. "Enough! We'll give this a month trial, okay? Keep Loki out back, chained somewhere he can't get off, and play it by ear from there."

Tony quirked an eyebrow. "And if he breaks away and eats off one of our faces?"

"He is under strict rule not to turn on a human," Thor said firmly.

"Yep, that will definitely stop him," Clint deadpanned.

"My brother will not harm you if you do not provoke him," Thor said. "His punishment would be severe, and he knows it."

"If you make me regret this decision, I swear to god your doggy ass is gonna fry under a repulsor," Tony said darkly, staring at Loki.

Loki growled under his breath; _stupid mortal. Making idle threats to a god? He would live to regret his words-_

"Brother," Thor said sharply, tugging the lead and snapping Loki from his dark thoughts.

"Is he a mongrel?" Tony asked, bitterly satisfied that the conclusion reached wasn't the one he'd wanted. "Because given the whole parentage deal, that would be kind of ironic."

When Loki lunged this time, Thor conveniently let the lead slip through his fingers just enough to scare Stark into jumping backwards.


	2. Chapter 2

_Wow. The response to this story was waaaaay more than I could have hoped for. Thank you all so much. The amount of favourites and alerts I got was unreal, and as much as I appreciate them, I do enjoy reviews so much. They're my inspiration to keep going, really...though having said that, I'd probably continue writing either way. They just make me happy ^_^ So thank you all so much, and I do hope you continue to enjoy this story. It's not my best work, but it's fun for me, and hopefully for you as well. _

_**~LD~LD~LD~~LD~LD~LD~~LD~LD~LD~~LD~LD~LD~**_

Loki's living outside lasted for all of three days.

His chain was long enough to allow him access to all but the furthest corners of the garden, which he explored once and not again. Most of his time was spent sitting on the patio, staring menacingly through the glass doors and freaking out the archer.

In all, he found it rather easy to endure his time in the Avengers' imprisonment. It was tolerable and his most basic needs were met, which certainly put it above punishments he had suffered for lesser crimes in the past.

Yet when the storm first hit the city, Thor had still looked out the windows at him with an almost childlike expression of guilt, every line of his face writing his wish to bring his brother inside. For seven hours in harsh rain and fierce thunder, Loki sat on his haunches under a piece of corrugated roof that jutted from the side of one of the walls, waiting. When Thor finally came to fetch him, he didn't feign surprise.

"Brother, you must make no mischief when I take you inside," Thor said quietly, as he unlooped the chain and began to lead Loki towards the door. "I must have you promise, before you enter."

They stopped on the patio steps, Thor fixing Loki with a stare as though waiting for an answer. Loki simply stared back, giving the closest dog equivalent of a raised eyebrow that he could manage; luckily, he got his point across.

"If you are promising to behave, give me a sign of some sort," Thor amended. The rain by now had soaked the two of them, and beads of water dripped from Thor's beard as Loki stood staring. With a genuine canine eye-roll, Loki turned his head to the side and gave a barely audible grunt, which seemed good enough for Thor.

The inside of the tower was homely and lived-in, and as Loki padded quietly behind his brother, nails clicking against the tiles, he registered with some surprise that the heating system ran through the floor – the pads of his paws absorbed the heat, warming him entirely by the time they reached Thor's quarters.

"You must remain here, brother," Thor said. "There will be nobody but myself coming and going. Sleep upon the -"

Before Thor had finished his sentence, Loki had hopped onto the king size bed in the centre of the room. Under his brother's gaze, he padded up and down it several times with damp paws before collapsing in a heap of limbs, his head resting on one of the silk covered pillows.

"I'm going to the store for more brownie mix, what you guys need?" Darcy asked, leaning against the doorframe with both arms folded loosely across her chest.

It was one of the rare occasions that all of the Avengers were in the same building, and as such they had apparently decided that the epitome of team bonding was watching American Idol together.

Tony and Bruce sat together on the couch, excitedly discussing something that Darcy couldn't begin trying to pronounce, while Clint and Natasha practically sat on top of one another, eyeballing the sullen looking black dog that lay by Thor's armchair.

"Could you get me some of those chocolate-y things?" Steve asked, looking over the back of his chair tiredly. "You know, with the -" he made a circle in the air with his finger, looking at Darcy hopefully.

"Peanut butter cups?" She supplied. He nodded eagerly, smiling when she shot him a thumbs up. "Anyone else?"

"Condoms," Clint piped up. Instantly, Tony's attention was caught.

"When are you gonna use condoms?" he scoffed. "Lassie over there gets more than you," he said, jerking a thumb towards Loki, who growled under his breath.

"My brother resents that remark," Thor announced. "He is of pure spirit and soul!" Six pairs of incredulous eyes darted to Thor's face, and even Loki glanced at him with something resembling a frown.

"Didn't he once turn himself into a horse-"

"Nary! We have all tried many things in our youth!" Thor interrupted loudly, before looking quickly at the television. "Son of Cowell is speaking. Quell all further thoughts."

"I think we're done here," Darcy said, pursing her lips against a smile as she made to leave.

A muffled bark followed by a hesitant call from Thor stopped her in her tracks. Clenching her jaw, Darcy turned back to see that he had stood, Loki at his feet. "Yes?"

"My brother wishes be taken outside," Thor said, hesitantly.

"Are you serious?" Darcy said flatly. "Cause if you are, I'm gonna have to say no."

"He's not leaving the building," Natasha said, sounding disgusted at the thought. "Especially not with Darcy."

"Thanks, Natasha," Darcy said sarcastically. "Anyone else wanna explain why this is a bad idea to Mr Norse God?" Tony's hand shot up, and Darcy clicked her fingers into a point at him.

"Yeah, no offense Thor, but your brother is a bit of a psychopath." Tony screwed up his face as he spoke, as though it pained him a little to say what everyone already thought. "And little Miss Darcy here is -"

"He would not harm you," Thor interrupted, looking at Darcy as though the thought had only occurred to him. "Though I understand if you do not wish to spend time with him. He has yet to redeem himself."

Loki drew everyone's gazes when he trotted out of the room, tail low and head high.

"Thor, would you mind going after him?" Steve said, looking uncomfortable.

A resounding crash interrupted whatever Thor was about to respond with. Tony's clenched jaw and wide, twitching eyes had the Thunder God hurrying from the room, shouting for his brother.

In the silence that followed, Darcy glanced around and met Clint's eyes. "So," she said awkwardly. "What kinda condoms?"


End file.
